


I Hate You

by jpetrakis



Category: Glee
Genre: Babies, Character Death, F/M, Past Relationship(s), Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22266883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jpetrakis/pseuds/jpetrakis
Summary: Original Prompt: Angsty Berrington break-up incorporating If/Then’s “I Hate You” from @anderwarbler (originally posted Dec 14 2017)
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Hunter Clarington





	I Hate You

“Rach?”

His voice is smooth and soft– Rachel recognizes it and her nickname immediately amid the chorus of noises coming from the busy café. Even with the air thick of with the smell of coffee, Rachel catches a whiff of his unmistakable oaky cologne when she turns around to face the boy-turned-man she once called “lover”. He’s standing in front of her, filled out and somehow taller than she last remembered, despite him being well over her own height even in their adolescence.

“ _Hunt_ ,” she greets him, sounding off-guard. The two stare at each other for a moment, neither one of them saying anything– just gazing softly at each other as a whirlwind of memories hit them both. It isn’t until Rachel’s friend is nudging her into his direction that Rachel chuckles nervously– though not uncomfortably– and invites the man to sit and catch up.

“I was hoping I would run into you one day; I knew of all places for a chance meeting, it’d be here in New York.” Hunter says. Rachel notices that his voice is as melodic and charming as when they were teenagers, but deeper. His demeanor has always been smooth but somehow he seems more mature. The boy she once knew had very obviously grown into a man. “You look great, Rach.

Rachel nods and hides a bashful smile behind her coffee cup, unprepared for this conversation. “What are you doing in the big city anyways? Shouldn’t you be fighting a war or something?” She asks as she leans over the table, closer to Hunter. She eyes him in a teasing manner, which causes the man to laugh.

“I was– until just a few days ago– now I’m in the reserves.” Hunter explains. He gives a little shrug because he knows the army is exactly why the two of them broke up in the first place. Rachel had had her dream to be on Broadway and Hunter was always going to join the army one way or another. Their dreams had put them on very different paths and when they were eighteen, breaking up seemed like a good idea.

Now it seems, however, that their paths have crossed once again.

Maybe it’s because of serendipity or the constant overwhelming feeling of nostalgia eating away at Rachel, but she’s much bolder than her teenage self that the next words that leave her mouth don’t surprise her in the least– “Do you want to come back to my place?”

Hunter and Rachel barrel through the front door of her little matchbox apartment, kissing and tugging at each other’s clothes. The slight scruff along Hunter’s jaw rubs against her face as they exchange heated kisses and it’s just another reminder for the woman that her ex-boyfriend had grown into a man. “Hunt, I’ve thought about you,” she whines at him as he picks her up. She easily hooks her legs around his midsection, clinging to him with a desperation she didn’t even know she was capable of.

“Me too– every day,” Hunter admits as he kisses her again. He carries her over to her bedroom and they fall together in her bed, tangling in the sheets as clothes comes flying off.

Their love for each other has always been passionate and even as the years have gone by, nothing quite matches up to what an epic love they had experienced with each other as teenagers. Now that they’re both adults, their feelings are amplified. Rachel clings to Hunter with her nails digging into his firm shoulders as he impales her bare with his hard cock. They’re both naked and unmistakably connected to each other, breathing hot and heavy as each thrust bringing a new wave of memories and feelings between the both of them.

After their tryst, the two lie in bed together for hours, catching up even more. It turns out that Hunter actually came to New York actively _searching_ for Rachel and it makes the woman blush like a teenage girl knowing that she was actually sought after. Hunter always had a way of making her feel wanted and attractive. Rachel reveals that she’s been somewhat successful on the musical theatre scene after graduating from NYADA, looking forward to her new role in a very promising Off-Broadway production.

“I don’t want to waste anymore time regretting my mistake of breaking up with you, Rach. I want _you_.” Hunter tells her adamantly, his steely grey eyes practically boring into her chocolate brown ones.

Rachel knows in her heart and in her mind that letting Hunter back into his life would increase her happiness tenfold. Maybe that’s why she agrees so willingly.

“I want you, too.”

* * *

Maybe because the two have an extensive history as high school sweethearts but when Rachel and Hunter start seeing each other again, it’s as if they picked up right where they left off. The two can’t get enough of each other and every second spent together is precious for them because of all the time they’ve lost spent apart.

They mutter their rekindled “I love you’s” to each other only a few short weeks after meeting again and it’s only three months after that that Hunter is moving in with her. They live a slightly cramped but happy life together in Rachel’s little matchbox apartment located in the Bronx but neither one of them mind.

“It’s better than a cot in the barracks,” Hunter says, ever the optimist when Rachel complains that they need a bigger apartment.

Hunter takes to showing her the apartment is more than big enough for the both of them, giving her romantic dinners on their tiny dining room table and swaying to the music from his iPhone in the little space between the front door and the bed.

It’s on one of those romantic dinners in that matchbox apartment that Hunter gets down on one knee and proposes to her.

“You would make me the happiest man in the world if you would become my wife.” He tells her, holding the opened ring box in his hands to reveal a modest diamond ring. It’s nothing flashy or over-the-top but Rachel knows that he took great care when choosing the ring and it must’ve taken months of extra shifts and careful saving to afford it. She decides it looks perfect– that Hunter is perfect– and eagerly says “yes”.

When Rachel becomes pregnant after one too many sex-fueled nights together, Hunter reacts with sheer joy and delight. Even though a baby puts a damper on Rachel’s ten-step program towards success as a Tony Award-winning Broadway Actress, she’s willing to put it on-hold to have a baby with her soulmate. Because that’s what Hunter is to her and she decides it must be true when after breaking the news to Hunter, all he can talk about is their baby and what he or she will look like and how they will act and all the fun things they’ll do together as a family. Her heart melts at how excited Hunter is to be a father to their unborn child.

They move from their little apartment in the Bronx to a bigger apartment in a safer, quieter neighborhood. Money is tight and sometimes Hunter has to pick up extra shifts to cover all the bills and invest for their baby’s future, but every day he has away from work he spends it with her. He takes her out on cute little walks in Central Park and they discover a little hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop in Manhattan that they both just can’t get enough of. When Rachel’s pregnancy cravings kick in and she finds herself on the verge of eating meat even though she’s a vegetarian, Hunter volunteers to abstain from meat until their baby is born.

“You’d be eating my share of meat so it’s only fair, right?” Hunter jokes, taking a bite of his very last steak before going on his meat-fast.

“You’re so silly,” Rachel tells him, rolling her eyes but she has to admit his steak looks incredibly appetizing to her. She loves that he’ll do anything for her, including giving up eating steaks and burgers considering what a carnivore he is.

Hunter is everything Rachel hopes for in a man and so much more. When the baby is born, he’s the one to get up in the middle of the night for the 3 A.M. feedings and despite his tiredness with having to take care of a newborn, he still puts on a smile because he loves his little family.

And Rachel loves her family. She wouldn’t trade them for anything else in the world.

So when it’s only a month away from little Elizabeth’s first birthday, she’s shocked when Hunter breaks the news to her.

“Rach, I have to ship out.” Hunter blurts the news out, hoping that it’ll feel just like ripping a bandage. It doesn’t.

“Ship out?” Rachel asks, almost as if she hadn’t heard him. She’d just put Elizabeth down for a nap and the couple always take advantage of whatever alone time they have together, the two alone in their bedroom. “Can’t you just tell them ‘no’?”

Hunter almost laughs. “You know it doesn’t work like that. I can’t just tell my commanding officer ‘no’ and not go.”

“So just quit.”

“Rach.”

Rachel looks at Hunter and stares at him with an intense gaze, knowing exactly what him shipping out will mean. It means that they will spend days, weeks, _months_ apart. Not only that, but Hunter could get seriously hurt or worse out in the field. They both know exactly how Rachel feels about Hunter being in the army and she had secretly hoped that with their daughter now in the picture, Hunter might’ve do the sensible thing and quit.

“… When?”

“Two weeks.” Hunter frowns and knows that two weeks is far too soon and that no amount of time will ever be enough until he’s ripped away from Rachel’s side. “Babe, I’ve been out in the field before; I’ll be fine.”

Rachel is very quiet and when Hunter reaches out for her, she shrinks back and even pushes him away. “No, I– I hate you!” she shouts.

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

The woman looks at her husband and sees the distraught expression his face. She knows he’s just as frustrated as she.

“Please, Hunt… don’t go.”

“Rach…”

“I know.” She knows Hunter has committed himself to the army.

The two weeks seem to pass them like a blur regardless of how much they both hang onto their time together. Hunter quits his job in preparation for being shipped out and while Rachel enjoys having her husband at home during the day, she can’t seem to sway his decision to leave. Her husband holds her just a little longer each time they hug– he lingers close with every kiss, as if savoring every last moment they have together.

“Take lots of pictures of her, okay? I want to see her grow up even if I’m not here,” he insists to Rachel, leaning against the crib as he watches his little girl sleep. He’s dressed in his army uniform, ready to take a cab to the airport.

“No, Hunt.” Rachel decides she needs to put her foot down. “Elizabeth needs you. _I_ need you. You can’t– You can’t just _leave_ and expect us to be waiting here for you. We _need_ you, _here_.”

Hunter tries to appeal to his wife once more before he leaves. He doesn’t want to leave her on bad terms. “Rachel, please.”

“No, screw you, Hunter. You can’t just leave us like this. If… If you leave, I won’t let you come back. You can’t just–” By this point, Rachel is in tears and she lets them flow freely down her cheeks as she tells her husband off. “You can’t come and go as you please and keep hurting me– hurting _us–_ like this.”

“Rach–”

Rachel stomps her foot on the floor. “ _No_ , Hunt. If you leave, don’t you dare come back.”

“You don’t mean that.”

No, she doesn’t, but she doesn’t know what to do anymore. It’s her last ditch effort to keep Hunter from making what she thinks is a horrible mistake. She turns away, unable to answer him.

Hunter moves past her, knowing he needs to leave soon or he’ll miss his flight. The taxi is already waiting out front for him.

“No, wait!” She cries, running after him and wrapping her arms around him from behind. Hunter turns around and welcomes her into his embrace, hugging her tightly before giving her a passionate kiss goodbye.

* * *

.

..

…

….

_“It’s so sad; the poor girl will grow up without her father…”_

_“And what of his wife? How awful this must be on her…”_

Rachel sits in the church pew, dressed in all black with a veil to cover her face. She barely registers peoples’ condolences after the funeral and she sits there on that same church pew after everyone has filed out of the church. Rachel’s father volunteers to take Elizabeth and watch after her to give her a moment alone with her husband.

Her late husband.

When Rachel stands, she slowly makes her way up the steps to the altar, where Hunter’s body lies in a closed casket, an American flag draped over it. The words spoken by the soldier who listed Hunter’s many accomplishments don’t matter to Rachel. She doesn’t care how many lives he saved or who he was protecting; she’s selfish and wishes Hunter was here to protect her and their daughter instead.

She cries as she thinks about how Elizabeth will never have any memories of her father and the fact that Rachel will have to raise her alone. It’s not that she’s not capable but she wanted to do it with Hunter. She wants Hunter. She’s always wanted him.

Rachel looks over at the large photo of him, seeing his stupid smile, dressed so nicely in his formal army uniform. It’s a smile she’ll never get to see again.

“Hunt…”

She hates him.

“Please come back.”

She loves him.

“Please…”

She _loved_ him.


End file.
